Greenhouse hemp producers find themselves grappling with one of the most important decisions for any commercial cannabis operation: selecting the proper strains, or cultivars to produce each season.

Unlike ornamental production – where the thousands of certified varieties of annuals and perennials have been researched and trialed and genetically selected by professional breeders for decades now — commercial hemp genetics are still underdeveloped compared to the major agronomic crops.

With that in mind, there are a multitude of factors to consider when making your hemp genetics purchasing decisions.

Production pioneer

One of the first commercial hemp licensees to legally produce a crop in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Hemp Service of Minnesota CEO Paul Frank has monitored developments on the genetics side of the hemp industry since its inception. His state-wide cultivation network produced six strains of hemp during the 2020 season, most of which was for smokable hemp flower or extracted products.

The group also propagated six different cultivars of hemp clones to certified operations across the country.

“One of the most important aspects is knowing that the strains we grow are optimized for our geography,” Frank says. “If they were bred and worked well in places like Washington, Oregon and Montana, then they should work in our greenhouses and fields, too.”

Frank advocates growers devote ample attention to each offering’s Certificates of Analysis (CoAs).

Specifically, he advises fellow growers to check dates. Seed lot testing dates within 12 months (since seed germination rates tend to degrade after a year in storage) are considered current, he says.

“And you have to also be certain that you trust the data — where the variety was developed, and what lab did the testing,” Frank says.

Once a buyer has zeroed in on a genetics provider that is trustworthy, the process of further evaluating that growers’ genetic offerings begins. Now, strain characteristics like cannabinoid and terpene levels are factored into the selection process.

“Lot purity and germination rate are also very important, as well as making sure you understand the varieties’ parent genetics (which two strains were bred together, or crossed, to make each cultivar),” Frank says.

Engage local experts

Growing hemp in a 12.5-acre commercial greenhouse alongside blocks of pesticide-free leafy greens and lettuce in upstate New York’s Niagara County, Wheatfield Farms owner-operator Paal Elfstrom made the move to incorporate hemp crops into the greenhouse back in 2017.

The former pharmaceutical industry rep says he has learned a lot about what makes a good commercial greenhouse hemp variety.

“Genetic stability, plant uniformity and vigor, these are typical plant characteristics that any greenhouse grower, whether it’s for perennials or cannabis, is seeking out,” Elfstrom says. “We also look for the proper flower to leaf ratios, since we’re trying to grow the highest amounts of cannabinoids.”

Like his counterpart up in Minnesota, Elfstrom stresses the importance of going over CoA documents with a fine-toothed comb. “We’re really focusing on the terpene and cannabinoid [levels], it’s kind of what I like to call a ‘CoA-focused selection process,’” he says. “I compare it to how a controlled environment strawberry grower is looking for the right combination of flavor and sugar content."

Wheatfield Farms has found value in partnering with Cornell University, where Dr. Larry Smart and his team of horticulture researchers are turning out research findings on all aspects of commercial hemp production in the Empire State.

“I would encourage anyone interested in growing hemp reach out to the local cooperative system and the Land Grant researchers in your area,” Elfstrom says.

Land Grant weighs in

Speaking of academia, Nicholas Kaczmar is a research support specialist within the Horticulture Department at Cornell University. Kaczmar and his team study various commercial hemp production systems.

“Commercial growers are looking for robust resistance to fungal pathogens like powdery mildew and botrytis, mostly because there just aren’t many products labeled for use in hemp or cannabis,” Kaczmar says. “It also helps minimize spray applications throughout the year.”

Otherwise, Kaczmar advises growers to factor in how they intend to grow the crop and which market they are hoping to produce for during the genetic selection process.

“If you’re growing smokable flower you will want a variety with larger main flowers and colas, which are more marketable than the smaller, airy ones that are ideal for extraction,” he says. “And some of these early maturing, auto flowering varieties are really interesting because you can have a harvest every two or three weeks.”

Kaczmar says growers should also ensure any genetics they invest in are total THC-compliant. “Make sure your THC levels are low enough that you’re not always worried about the hemp going hot (over 0.3% THC content),” he says. “It’s looking like the new USDA regulations will be based on total THC compliance, so I’d recommend looking at total THC content (vs. delta9 THC levels), especially if you’re looking for lines of production that you can move forward with beyond this season.”

And, last but certainly not least, is hunting out unique phenotypes in your hemp genetics, Kaczmar says.

“Unique colors like purple and pinks are really popular with consumers right now,” he says, noting the relative infancy that hemp and cannabis breeding programs are currently in.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done, no doubt.”

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The green industry is coming off a hot streak as we kick off the new year. Operations across North America, save for a few regions where lockdowns didn’t exempt greenhouse growers, saw historically positive sales volumes last spring, stretching into summer and fall.

Now that the wild and seemingly never-ending 2020 is firmly in the rearview, many horticulture operations that are flush with cash find themselves at somewhat of a fork in the road: is it wise to take advantage of grower-friendly finance rates and invest in expanding production to meet the new demand we saw in 2019? Or should they pay down debt and prepare for the possibility of yet another economic downturn? Hold market share and keep on keepin’ on, hoping for better days ahead?

Of course, many believe that any decision in this regard should strongly consider that the virus appears likely to stick around with us at the very least through yet another spring production season.

So, is 2021 the year for growers to make some big moves? Build that shiny new Dutch double-gutter expansion, or snap up that new environmental controller you have been eyeing?

Let us see what some experts in the industry have to say on the subject:

2020: outlier or new normal?

Mintel is a well-known market research firm that has been tracking and reporting on all kinds of consumer trends throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The group conducted green industry focused research this summer, finding that 84% of American consumers are spending the same or more time in the garden than before the pandemic, and 10% have increased plant purchases from the year prior.

Purdue University’s Ariana Torres, an associate professor in the school’s ag economics department, warns not to read too deeply into those numbers, however.

“We believe that this is more due to a regional-specific effect, and we are finding evidence that non-essential shopping (including plants) has actually decreased. Consumers are feeling less confident about the growth of the economy going forward,” she says.

That said, Torres is seeing a significant shift in how people acquire plants, and greenhouse operations are also looking for new customers and markets.

“Data from the [Mintel] tracker also shows that 36% of plant purchasers are buying more online. One way growers can address new and complex industry trends is to aim direct sales as much as possible,” Torres says. “Today you’re seeing that happen with many growers that previously were only selling wholesale now trying to bypass the traditional brick-and-mortar retail route to market by selling to consumers online.”

Torres says that since March, a bunch of new businesses have sprung up as a response to the online demand to deliver plants, flowers and other green products directly to consumers. In the greenhouse world, this is especially true with the proliferation of delivery and curbside services.

“And retailers that were not traditionally plant-purchasers (e.g. Aldi) have agreed to support farmers and local centers and channel their products through this retail market,” she says. “Using social media marketing and other types of digital marketing can help businesses reach local customers in a cost-efficient way, often without a large up-front capital investment.”

Associate Professor Ben Campbell lectures on applied economics at the University of Georgia’s Department of Agriculture. Campbell himself advocates a restrained approach when it comes to the long-term investment and expansion question going into 2021. His own market research in 2020 revealed a mere 4% increase in consumer spending on plants compared to 2018 levels.

“I myself am a very risk-adverse person, and there are just too many uncertainties right now with coronavirus and what will happen with consumer buying next year,” he says. “There’s some optimism about a vaccine, but the odds of all of us having received it by spring 2021 are not great. Right now, I just don’t think we’ll see the same plant-buying boom that we saw in 2020.”

Campbell foresees more people returning to their normal office work routines, and more unemployed workers without the same unemployment compensation safety net they had in 2020, contributing to a return to pre-pandemic plant demand. Or possibly even lower levels of demand.

“Unless you have a local market already setup, and the demand is there and it is firm and stable, I would be very concerned about how 2021 is going to go from a sales standpoint, and I’d want to watch what I am doing as far as expanding,” he says. “We’re probably not going to have 2020 happen again in 2021, at least not anywhere near the size or scale that we saw. And if everyone expands their operations at the same time, we’ve seen in the past that can have a compressing effect on prices, and then demand likely will go down. That’s a big double whammy.”

Texas A&M University Professor and Ellison Chair Charlie Hall does not envision 2020 sales levels becoming the new normal in horticulture, either.

“Are all of the ‘newbies’ going to come back for a second helping of this whole lawn and garden thing?” Hall wonders. “A big part of that is whether they were successful or not with their plants. If they were successful, then sure, maybe. At the same time, it’s not like I’d be building 50 acres of greenhouses right now expecting this giant tidal wave of demand to be there.”

Hall bases that analysis on preliminary data from independent garden center pre-bookings for the upcoming spring season.

“Right now, including the lawn and landscaping side of the industry, it’s looking like we’ll probably see something in the neighborhood of about a 10% bump in demand from pre-pandemic levels,” he says.

Photo © Nuthawut | Adobe stock

Consumer spending habits are evolving.

Economists across the board are sounding alarm bells on what businesses can and should expect to happen in 2021. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently cautioned that the economy is likely to shrink substantially across both the first and second quarters of the new year, with unemployment projected to increase up to near the 10% mark.

As of press time in mid-December, congressional passage of a new stimulus package had just been passed to help boost consumer spending. President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team has reportedly also been warned of the potential for a particularly devastating “double-dip” recession.

This would almost certainly have devastating consequences for the green industry. Generally, when consumers lack confidence in the economy, they save money and pay down debt while decreasing discretionary spending on goods and services until the economy recovers, or a stimulus is disbursed.

One of Hall’s many fortes is analyzing consumer spending trends and making sense of what those trends mean for the green industry, and more specifically, for growers themselves. Looking at the data of late, Hall is seeing a near future featuring less consumer spending on things like plants and flowers and trees.

“As we go through this pandemic, it is important for business owners to find technologies that reduce labor needs."

“Durable goods purchases have been extremely strong (during the pandemic) and consumers are still spending money on durable goods, some of which we attribute to the last stimulus payments putting a little extra cash in people’s pockets,” Hall says. “In most recessions we do see a bump in flower and other plant sales early on in the recession, but once the recovery starts consumers start spending more on durable goods, and there’s less to spend on flowers. It seems like that’s where we’re headed right now.”

For her part, Torres agrees that we will likely see a drop in consumer disposable income outlay during this second wave of the pandemic.

“Over time we will likely hit a demand-supply equilibrium, and it is better for growers to behave conservatively by paying off their debt with the highest interest, investing in cost efficient equipment, automating activities and processes, and reducing costs and increasing efficiency,” she adds.

Even with Americans’ discretionary fund spends likely to decrease in the short term, there are a couple positive developments that Torres thinks could help soften whatever blow the industry ends up absorbing.

“Plant demand from the Baby Boomers is increasing, and this segment of the population has spending power and is prioritizing local purchases and purchasing online,” she says. “And private home improvements continue to increase due to the fact that Americans are spending more time at home and prioritizing quality of life and gardening more.”

Torres also believes a strong and only growing stronger real estate market will continue to prop up demand for plants and new landscape features, benefiting garden centers and growers alike.

Photo © Nuthawut | Adobe stock

Labor a constraining factor, too

Long before anyone knew what the coronavirus even was, the green industries’ labor situation has long been singled out as the top constraining factor for growers looking to scale up.

“If you expand production and invest in new structures, then you’re going to need that much more labor,” Campbell says. “But the question still remains for many growers: Can you get it?”

The ag labor pool was essentially taking hits from all sides in 2020. Global travel restrictions made a very competitive immigrant labor pool that much tougher to maneuver, and laid off domestic laborers largely stayed home and collected the controversial $600 per week Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) payments rather than take lower-paying, manual labor intensive positions in farming.

“If you expand production and invest in new structures then you’re going to need that much more labor.”

These developments are only going to continue to exacerbate, according to Torres.

“Labor issues are becoming larger due to the pandemic,” she says. “Labor is one of the most important and expensive inputs for industry businesses, and it promises to remain a major worry due to lack of mobility, government unemployment payments, and immigration issues.”

Therefore Torres, while reminding growers to be smart and conservative and analyze any investments accordingly, does advocate they take a close look at adding automation technologies where they fit.

“As we go through this pandemic, it is important for business owners to find technologies that reduce labor needs,” she says. “Automation of activities, tools and technologies that improve the quality of products and services, and new processes that can spread or reduce the need for labor, should be prioritized.”

Caution moving forward

All three green industry economic experts we consulted independently offered growers the same advice: a conservative approach today could actually be more beneficial in the long run, versus a frenzied plan to expand in the immediate short-term.

“Having a conservative approach with the recently experienced liquidity can pay off later on,” Torres says. “And it appears that the best route forward today involves investing in economically feasible technologies that promote automation, and most importantly reaching out to consumers directly through online sales and uncovering new or non-traditional markets.”

She also believes growers should “prioritize cash flow health in the long-term” while trying to diversify their offerings into new or emerging crop markets like indoor strawberry production, or hyper-local vertical produce farming.

Campbell recommends much of the same risk-adverse go-forward plan as Torres, and he is keeping a keen eye on developments with the new administration coming into office.

“There is a lot of research and data out there that shows the economy tends to slow down coming out of an election, and when people are uncertain and don’t know what to expect from a new administration, they save rather than spend,” he says, noting that we don’t know what a Biden administration means for trade tariffs or input prices.

Perhaps the industries’ foremost voice on economic analysis and issues, Hall cautions growers not to get complacent and contented after many had their finest spring sales seasons in decades.

“Make sure you’re lean and make sure you’re efficient in everything you do,” he says.

“If another downturn is coming then I will generally tell people to defer large capital expenditures, defer maintenance expenses as much as they can, forget paying dividends and pay your suppliers within terms, meaning if you have 60 or 90 days to pay off a balance, then go ahead and take it. You do not have to pay everything off within 10 days.

“And making full use of any available lines of credit,” he says. “Is usually a good strategy, especially considering that during the last great depression if growers didn’t use those lines of credit the banks clawed those limits and rates back from them.”

Bottom line

The path ahead for the next few miles seems unclear at the present time. Perhaps there are more good times on the horizon, yet the prospect of more danger could lie just ahead. However you decide to play your hand in 2021, like any seasoned gambler, be sure to do your homework first.

The greater use of LED and HID supplemental lighting has increased the yield and quality of many crops grown in greenhouses. Extending the light period to reach the optimum daily light integral (DLI) is now within economic means for many crops as rapid advances in lighting technology and fixture efficiency improve. Now, growers need to address the problem of keeping the light within the greenhouse.

Reports continue to proliferate of neighbors to greenhouse operations upset that light pollution is impacting their environment and health. Currently, there are no dark sky designations (i.e. areas where light pollution is regulated to ensure good stargazing conditions) anywhere on the east coast of the U.S. Although very little of the problem can be attributed to greenhouses, the visual impact of a large greenhouse lit up all night can upset neighbors and encourage them to want to take action.

Common citizen concerns around light pollution typically include:

• Inability to view the stars and planets
• A negative effect on wildlife, ranging from the development of amphibians to foraging and mating
• Disruption of normal flight patterns of migratory birds
• Increased sleep disorders, headaches, fatigue and anxiety in humans

Having been the secretary to a local planning and zoning commission for 40 years, I have experienced public environmental concerns and the need for the commissioners to take action. This is starting to happen in some states now related to light pollution.

The industry needs to be proactive by coming forward with solutions that are acceptable to both growers and the public.

Recent action by the Kingsville, Ontario, town council shows the potential impact for greenhouse operators. The council passed a bylaw that will fine an individual $5,000 for a first offence and $10,000 for subsequent violations related to greenhouse light pollution. For corporations, the minimum fine is $50,000 for the first offense and $100,000 for each subsequent offense.

At the present time there are very few guidelines that commissions can draw on. How much stray light is acceptable? I am not aware of any research that shows the amount of light that escapes from a typical lighted greenhouse at night. It would include among other factors the indoor light level, type of fixtures and the transmittance of the greenhouse glazing. Most regulations that have been developed reference the International Dark Sky Associations standards that state that “no artificial light can escape a parcel upwards or outwards.”

In addition, enforcement of many of these regulations requires funding that is often difficult to acquire.

Here’s my advice …

Growers planning supplemental lighting installations should act proactively and address these concerns with the local building department or governing body, specifically with some possible suggestions

The best solution is to install blackout curtains both overhead and on the walls. This is a positive measure that can eliminate the problem. Curtain systems are expensive ($2 to $6/sq ft) but the savings in heat and the increased light that gets to the plants will help to pay for them.

Being proactive related to community concerns on light pollution is probably the best approach as regulations developed by local regulatory agencies can be very restrictive.

A good curtain material, such as Svensson 10075 FR AB+BW with a reflective upper layer and white bottom layer, has a heat energy savings of 75% and estimated 3% to 5% increase in reflective light that reaches the plants. Another material that is light and tight but allows moisture through is Obscura 9950 FR-W.

Regulations in the Netherlands, where the population density is high, sometimes require 95% to 98% of the light to be retained so that the screen can be cracked open to allow heat and moisture to escape.

A partial solution to the problem might include providing the supplemental light at the beginning or the end of the day when there is some natural sky light, but not at a level that increases the DLI. This reduces the appearance of lighting up the sky in the greenhouse area.

For some crops such as tomatoes and cucumbers, another option might be to install the lighting within or just above the plant canopy. It may also be possible to install the lighting system so that it can be lowered or raised to near the plant canopy reducing the amount of light that shines on the glazing.

Growing up in the greenhouse, Brian Austin has always been surrounded by plants. By age 6, he was pulling weeds for his dad, who worked as a head grower for many years.

“I had a fascination with plants from a young age,” Austin says. “I loved going into the greenhouse and helping my dad with little jobs on the weekends.”

When his dad opened his own wholesale operation, The Garden Path Greenhouse, in the late 90s, Austin gained experience in various aspects of the business, from planting to watering to driving trucks. To complement his informal growing experience, Austin pursued a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture and Landscape Architecture from Colorado State University, with concentrations in floriculture and nursery management.

“Being exposed to the science of how and why plants grow renewed my passion,” says Austin, who managed the CSU trail garden for a couple seasons. “I fell in love with growing.”

During his last semester of college, Austin started working weekends at Dutch Heritage Gardens in Larkspur, Colorado, located just south of Denver. When he graduated in May 2009, he joined the business full-time as an assistant grower. Then, in 2015, he was promoted to head grower. Now, Austin focuses on finding new ways to improve plant production by empowering his team to innovate.

Learning from new crops

Since 2006, Dutch Heritage Gardens has been producing high-quality bedding plants and potted crops for grocery chains like Kroger. In 2016, the Colorado-based operation recognized a new opportunity to grow young hemp plants for large farms.

“We already had the processes and infrastructure in place to produce large volumes of young plants because we do our own propagation of petunias and geraniums,” Austin says. “There wasn’t a good supply from people growing hemp out of garages and indoor spaces, so it was a natural fit to become a young hemp supplier.”

Austin assumed the transition to hemp would be as easy as growing petunias, but instead he encountered some unexpected rooting challenges.

“We buy all our annual cuttings from big farms, but with hemp, we have to grow the stock plants and then take the cuttings, so we had to set those cuttings up for success,” he says. “Some practices we’ve done to improve our hemp cutting quality include dipping them in certain formulations of rosemary oil, fertilizers and different concentrations of IBA rooting hormone.”

After seeing success with dipped hemp cuttings, Austin’s team began trialing dips for other crops like lotus and poinsettia, while also implementing new sanitation protocols across the operation to ensure plant cleanliness.

By 2019, hemp filled about a quarter of the 9-acre greenhouse facility. “We couldn’t grow enough hemp,” Austin says. “The market was hot.” In 2020, Dutch Heritage increased hemp production to a 50/50 split with its bedding plants. This spring, the company will add another 5 acres of greenhouse space to increase its capacity for both types of crops.

Encouraging new ideas

To maximize limited resources, Austin constantly explores ways to improve efficiencies at Dutch Heritage Gardens.

For example, he developed a program to stick unrooted cuttings directly into final containers — eliminating transplanting without affecting the rooting percentage (which improved in some cases). “That saved us 20% in labor during the spring, which is huge, because our location is so remote that it’s a challenge to get labor here,” he says.

To make the most of the labor he has, Austin taps into his team’s ideas for improving the operation. He regularly walks each section of the greenhouse one-on-one with his two assistant growers and three section growers, giving them the opportunity to propose solutions to the crop issues they’re reporting.

“I don’t want to be the only idea source here. I want them to come up with their own ideas, and know how to go about trialing it to see how it works,” Austin says. “Having the assistant growers conduct the trials gives them a higher sense of purpose. If their trial works out and we implement it into our growing method, they feel like they’ve contributed value — which they have.”

One of his growers is currently trialing different surfactants on poinsettia bracts to find a rate high enough to clean off water spots without causing phytotoxicity. Through these experiments, Austin empowers his team to discover process improvements.

“I’m not just giving orders, but guiding them to make their own educated growing decisions,” he says. “The more they learn, the more they grow; then the more we grow as a team.”

As much as Austin enjoys plants, being a head grower has taught him that cultivating people can be even more fulfilling than growing flowers.

“People take a personal investment of time and emotion, which obviously can be challenging — but that’s also the most rewarding thing (about being a head grower), is seeing people grow and succeed,” he says.